The Camp Echo Lake Trail

As we approached the final week of summer 2015, we gave each senior village camper and staff one final survey to complete.  The difference was that we didn’t ask the usual questions about your favorite food or your favorite activity.  In the final survey, we ask you to think about your next step at camp and to reflect on your own experience as a Lower Village, Upper Village or 4n4 camper.

We wanted you to pass on wisdom to those who will follow in your footsteps.  We asked you what was most surprising to you. We wanted to find out one thing that you wish you knew before you started your summer.  We loved reading the ‘one piece of wisdom’ that you each would like to give to the next group.  You then shared the highlight and the challenge of your summer.  Most importantly, we also asked for your opinion about one thing you think we should change about Lower Village, Upper Village or 4n4 summer.

Regardless of how much we love camp and the magic of each and every summer, we always strive to make the experience even better the following summer.  Sometimes, there are actual changes that we implement, while sometimes we simply realize that we can do a better job of helping campers and staff to understand why something is the way it is.  The wisdom that comes through in your final surveys is a benchmark for us.  It provides us a guide for the next goals we want to set (and achieve!) in the Village.

From your final surveys we found out:

There is overwhelming agreement by most campers that you packed too much!  We also read over and over about your understanding of the importance of privileges and responsibility as a Senior Village camper.

You wrote about the power of a positive attitude, trying new things and reaching out to make connections with different people.  These are your words – we say them also, but you lived them at camp.  You are the best ambassadors for the awesome-ness of camp! Does that mean that you agree with everything?  Absolutely not 😉 !  We thank you for trusting us, though, even when you don’t always totally agree.

We also heard your feedback about certain activities or events, and we are exploring how to make those experiences better for you.  We never look back on a summer (no matter how amazing it was) and say “Let’s do that exactly the same way next year!”  We always strive to turn things over, explore ways to make camp more fun, run more smoothly, provide unique and interesting opportunities and keep you on a trajectory that is onward and upward!  Once more, as the cold winter months loom, we will be busy doing just that…finding ways to make CEL your favorite place on earth!

Until the, sending you all BIG HUGS!
Brenda